Pinpoint a City

Language Arts Activity

In this activity, children practice locating the home cities of sports teams on a simple state or national map.

WHAT YOU NEED

Wall map of the United States (We the People users: floor map of the United States) or outline map of your state

Teacher-made banners of various local or
national sports teams

Tape; glue; wooden craft sticks or toothpicks (to hold banners)

WHAT TO DO

Take a quick survey in your class about favorite national or state sports teams. Children may have ideas about favorite teams (Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, etc.) from listening to their families or watching teams play on TV. Write the results on the chalkboard and choose some of these teams' names to prepare sports banners.

Using colored construction paper, make small banners of national or state sports teams (baseball, football, soccer, basketball or a mix).

Write the name of the team and the location (town or state) on each banner. Use toothpicks or wooden craft sticks to hold the banners.

Help children match (tape) each sports banner to its appropriate location on a large state map or wall or floor map of the United States.

TEACHING OPTIONS

To increase print awareness, leave the banners in place on the map for several days at a time. Then remove the banners from the map, reshuffle them, and distribute to the class. Let children identify the name of the sports team on their banners and then replace them in the correct location on the map.

Show children how to use tape and string or yarn to measure the distance between two teams ; for example, the Miami Dolphins, in Miami, Florida, and the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Illinois.